Hey all, wanting to post this map I made up, and ideally get some feedback on it. I've included a readme-contact info.txt in the zip file so you can get a hold of me with suggestions! Thanks in advance!
~EKsama

Firstly let me say that I know absolutely nothing about making maps yet.

But in my user-only opinion, this is looking sweet!
Like Eldritch said, a curve would be nice for the upstairs wall. Also the bot-routing seems a little strange, but I assume that would be the last thing to be polished on a map (like I said, I don't know!).

But yeah, very impressive so far! Now if only I could find a Final Flight of the Osiris Dojo...

I've updated my build, I took your suggestions and used *alot* of curves and meshes this time for the construction OMG did it do wonders - the address is still the same, please delete any version previous to June 22nd. I promise this will be the last beta before my final release. Thanks again ^_^v

1) The scale is way too big. The railing is as tall as the player (it should only be about waist height or so) and the door handle way above the player's head.

2) There should be a chandielier in that room. Not a big thing, but it should be in there.

3) There is no light source (no windows, candles, torches, light bulbs, or anything) to cast light, so realistically speaking, why is it not pitch black? In the movie there are windows and lamps... you should consider adding some.

4) The light entities that you've put in the room are placed too close to the ceiling, resulting in "spots" of light that look unnatural and besides... where are they coming from?

Not to be pissy or anything, but the Readme file that I included in the map download addresses all of the problems you're pointing out, the "visible" lighting, the weapon textures etc. Should I have posted it's contents here maybe? I was under the impression that most people read them (even if I didn't either ^^;;;;
Part of the reason that they've been left out of the release is the reason that I'm still learning all of this as I go - I've only started learning the volumetric light thingy and other "advanced" or ("standard" techniques depending on your expected expertise).

Chandelier? ugh - unless I were to make some ornate alpha texture and god only knows what else, I was gonna quietly skip that part of the map for the sake of size/compiling stability/current mapping ability ^^;;;;;;;;;;

As far as the scaling goes, i've only had so many screenshots to go off of, and I've had ...artistic issues with the way the scaling is in JK2 - some sections seem cramped, others like the staircase seem too large. My only defense is this screenshot, which (IMO) isnt' too far off from where I have it - at least in the sense that it's not your most average room with average banisters
and the door is also closer to scale with the other screen that I have:
Angle or not the door is at least taking up half that wallspace and the Merilvingion is too close to argue about foreshortening.

As far as the "yellow" part of the Chateau, it's hard to gain that kind of atmosphere with the current texture set (this is also being reworked/made more consistent), at least the non-greenstuff. I wanted to keep away from yellow lighting, because as you know inside the Matrix there is constantly that green ambiance, which I've wanted to hold true in this release.
I am having some trouble in working in the worldspawn/ambient light thing - it doesn't seem to be holding any color value I add. The correct value is the same for any other light source no? _color and a 3 digit RGB value? The tute I'm using is from http://fps.brainerd.net/light7.htm - I got this link from Eldritches current banner/site thingy, thank you for putting it there it by the way Eldritch, it has already become an invaluble resource.

I thank you all for your continuing criticism, it is forcing me to release a better product, which is always the ideal goal of any developer. Please keep it coming, even if it is arguably repetitive. If I didn't want to be reamed/picked upon. I wouldn't have posted it here ^^v
~EKsama

Perhaps the reason no one read the readme was because it was buried in the pk3 file. Not everyone has the ability or knowledge to open pk3s (I use PakScape myself because it works so well) so putting the readme in there is not a good place for the general public if you want it to be read. 90% of the maps I download either don't have a readme, or the .zip file contains a pk3 and a separate readme file. Just something to consider for the future.

Now to address the issues that you addressed.

The best way to figure scale in Radiant is by using one of the spawn points as a guide. They are roughly the height of the player in game, so when building a map it's best to keep one of them in your field of view until you get a feel for the scale.
As I said earlier, the handrail/banister things for the stairs should only come up to about half the height of the player (about 32 units).
As to the Mergovingian, i'm not going to argue about foreshortening, but if you want to keep the doors the size they are the texture will have to be reworked, since that metal plate is about head height (and in-game is much higher).

If you want ambient light throughout your map, it's actually 2 commands... add the key ambient and the value (the value is similar to the value for regular light entities... don't put ambient light up too bright, though. Anything over 50 starts to look ridiculous). Then add the key _color and the value of a 3 digit RGB color (1 1 1 would be white light). Easiest way i've found to normalize RGB color values is to hit 'K' in Radiant to bring up the color wheel, pick my color, then copy the values for R G B.

I'm not sure about the yellow. I like the color scheme the way it is. The only thing I want to mention (again) are windows. There should be windows on both sides of the hall (close to the large doors).